Origen

Mid 19th century (originally denoting the Eskimo language or an Eskimo): abbreviation of obsolete Ehuskemay or Newfoundland dialect Huskemaw 'Eskimo', probably from Montagnais (see Eskimo). The term replaced the 18th-century term Eskimo dog.

Husky for a hoarse-sounding person (one with a husky voice) and the term husky for an Arctic dog are unconnected. The first comes from husk (Middle English) meaning ‘the dry outer covering of a fruit or seed’, a medieval word from Dutch hūskjin ‘little house’—the husk was pictured as the ‘house’ of the seed it contained. The name of the powerful dog used for pulling sledges probably comes from a Native American language, and came from Newfoundland dialect Huskemaw a form of Eskimo, first used in English in around 1830. Our use is from the shortening of husky dog or ‘Eskimo dog’.